> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://theparnassian.com/en/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Louis XIV was delighted with the decor of the Hôtel de Châteaurenard in Aix-en-Provence
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/liudovik-xiv-byl-v-vostorge-ot-dekora-otelia-shatorenar-v-eks-an-provanse/
- Published: 2024-08-11T07:34:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:33:00.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Architecture, Art, Monarchies

Louis XIV was delighted with the decor of the Hôtel de Châteaurenard in Aix-en-Provence. The decoration of the central staircase is executed in the genre of trompe-l'œil, or "fool the eye", popular since antiquity. Trompe-l'œil is when you see something impossible in a picture and take it for reality: a man climbing out of a frame, grapes to which birds fly down, a sky that does not exist.

Louis XIV was of course familiar with trompe-l'œil; after all, he had been brought up among Italians under the watchful eye of Cardinal Mazarin. So he had something to compare the illusions with in the house of his parliamentary counsellor during his visit. The realism of the illusions was astonishing: the parrot in its cage seemed alive, and the valet receiving guests was simply indistinguishable from a real steward.

It was precisely these decorative treasures that won their creator, the painter Jean Daret, the title of Painter to the King.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_13079@11-08-2024_10-34-08.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_13080@11-08-2024_10-34-08.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_13081@11-08-2024_10-34-08.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_13082@11-08-2024_10-34-08.jpg)